


Metro North Pass (December 22nd)

by arlum42



Series: Faberry Week 2012 [11]
Category: Glee
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-28
Updated: 2012-12-28
Packaged: 2017-11-22 18:13:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/612742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arlum42/pseuds/arlum42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Quinn has trouble with tickets and machines but luckily a stranger is nice enough to stop by and help her out.<br/>**AU in which Quinn and Rachel never met as teens</p>
            </blockquote>





	Metro North Pass (December 22nd)

**Author's Note:**

> Not exactly Metro North but train themed anyway.

It had taken over twenty minutes but finally, after lots of angry yelling at her mother on the phone and apologizing for her being late for Christmas dinner, Quinn  
reached the ticket machine. Santana had told her all she had to do was slip the card in and the bar would shift, allowing her to pass into the train station. She'd even  
drawn a little machine on the side, next to the printed map of the train maps.

Quinn pulled out the ticket she'd gotten in the mail from her mother last week and approached the machine. It seemed simple enough – just put the paper in the slot  
– and yet it seemed odd that it'd taken less than fifty people over an hour to pass before her turn had finally come.

Quinn slipped the ticket inside but when she went to push the metal bar it wouldn't budge. She pulled out the ticket and repeated the process, only to reach the same  
result. Glancing around, she realized she was the only one in the area. Not a single information booth was in sight and she was already running late. Her phone had  
died at some point while waiting. She was alone. 

Quinn pulled out the ticket and dusted it on her shirt. Maybe the magnetic strip had gotten damaged in the mail? She sure hoped that wasn't the case because then  
she'd miss the entire family dinner by the time she could repurchase tickets, not to mention missing the train.

The dainty blonde stood at the metal machine, pushing and pulling the ticket, trying to no avail to pass through. She was trying her best to stop the tears from  
breaking out when she felt a presence behind her.

Before she had time to turn around, another hand was around her own, slipping the ticket out of her fingers. Quinn turned around to find herself inches away from a  
young woman, just barely her height with long brown hair grinning from ear to ear.

Quinn blushed and tried stepping back but she bumped into the machine and fell into the woman's arms.

"First time, eh?" the woman said, smiling. She was clearly a singer – Quinn could tell by her voice. The words flew out almost in song, a sort of melody to them. She  
made no move to distance Quinn from herself.

Quinn nodded. 

"Here, let me show you," she laughed, putting her arms around Quinn once again so that she could reach the metal slot. Her touch sent shivers up Quinn's spine and  
her attempts to stop blushing only made her turn a darker shade of red. She hoped the gorgeous stranger wouldn't notice. 

"All you have to do is put it in the other way, see?" the woman explained, pointing to a small sticker on the side of the machine bearing an illustration showing how  
the insert the ticket. 

"Oops," Quinn muttered, embarrassed. 

They stood there for a minute and then the woman let Quinn out of the cage she'd formed around her. 

"Christmas dinner?" she asked.

Quinn nodded. "I'm late as it is. My mother's so mad I wouldn’t be surprised if she took the train here just to kill me." She laughed, and then remembered her manners  
and added "You too?"

"Nah, not me. Going to home to New York."

"What are you doing here, in Connecticut?" Quinn asked. "Not that I mean to pry or-"

The brunette cut off her apology midsentence. "It's fine. I went to visit old friends living not far from here."

"Oh, that's nice. I go to Yale so I live here. New York sounds wonderful!" Quinn said.

"Yale?" the woman laughed. "A genius like you stumped by a ticket machine."

"I'm an artist," Quinn replied, grinning. "Conventionality is not my thing." That made the woman grin broadly, lighting up her eyes. Quinn was surprised at the feeling  
in her stomach that came with the strangers' grin.

Suddenly a song pierced the silence and the two jumped. 

"I'm so sorry," the woman said, reaching into her back pocket for her phone. She glanced at the screen. "Shit, shit shit, I gotta go," she said.

"Same here," she replied, adding after a moment of thought "unfortunately".

The woman pulled out a pen from her back. "I know conventionality isn't your thing so I'm hoping you'll forgive me here," she said, grabbing Quinn's hand and  
scribbling something on it. Then she flashed a grin at Quinn once more before dashing in the opposite direction, her hair flying behind her.

Quinn proceeded to put the ticket in – the right way this time – dash through the small spot that had cleared up when the machine recognized the ticket, and ran to  
the right stop. She arrived just in time to slip inside before the doors closed behind her and the train sped away. 

It was only then when she looked at the palm of her hand. In small print a number had been jotted down, followed by capital letters spelling out RACHEL and a small  
star drawn in next to the name.

Quinn had just enough time to copy the number down in a safer spot before the train suddenly stopped and a message came over the loudspeakers announcing the  
engine had broken down. Even the image of her mother in her mind as she followed the crowds getting off the train was enough to dampen her mood.


End file.
